Celery cutter



June 22 1926. 1,589,571

H. A. SCHUELTER CELERY CUTTER I I Filed Oct. 1. 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 1 I a 112M700 17611 J4. (swag/ 1 Patented June 22, 1925.

warren stares PATENT- OFFICE.

CELERY CUTTER.

Application filed October 1, 1924.. Serial no. 741,000.

My invention has for its object to provide an extremely simple and highly efficient celery cutter intended for general use but es pecially adapted for shredding or slicing celery for chow mein, chop suey,.and other Chines dishes, and to such ends its consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims. y

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the machine adjusted for shredding celery;

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation of the machine as shown in Fig. 1, with someparts removed and other parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view partlydn plan and partly in section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of certain of the parts illustrated in Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is an inner faceview of the revoluble member and shredding knives, as shown in Fig. 4;

6 is a fragmentary perspectlve view of the frame and celery holdlng box;

Fig. 7 is a perspective'view of a piece of celery partly shredded;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of the machine with some parts section-ed and other parts indicated by means of broken lines, and which machine is adjusted to shoe celery; and

Fig. .9 is a detailed view in section taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8. H

The numeral 10 indicates a frame on top of which is supported a hopper 11 in the front oblique wall of which, at the right side of the machine, is a rectangular opening 12 at the top of a celery holding box 13 mounted on said frame. At the right side of the ma chine is a revoluble disc-like member 14- removably mounted on the right hand end of a horizontal shaft 15 journaled in "hearings on theframe 1-0 and having keyed to its lefthand end a pulley 16 over which runs a belt, not shown, from a motor or other driving means.

Formed in the revoluble member 14 is a radial slot17, at the ends of which are sleeve-like seats 18 in which is mounted a radially disposed shaft 19.- A plurality of e eer: a ens a a a rear end of whichis fulcrumed at 33.

having a radially disposed cutting edge 23 that diverges circumferentially. This slicing blade 22 is held laterally spaced from the inner face of the revoluble member 14 by means of a yoke-like member 24 interposed between the revoluble member 14 and slicing blade 22 at the back and ends of said blade. Formed in the revoluble member 14 back of the slicing blade 22 is a discharge opening 25.

The revoluble member 14 Works in a cylindrical housing which is separable from its inner end and has at its bottom a depending discharge spout 27 The inner end of the housing 26 is rigidly secured to the respective end of the frame 10 and the open righthand end of the celery holding box 13 extends into a correspondingly formed opening 26 therein. The fixed section of the housing 26 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced fingers 28 which extend into the removable section of said housing and support the same Spring latches 29, on the removable section of the housing 26,.interlock with the fixed section thereof, and hold said movable section in position.

The purposeof the hopper 11 is to hold celery to be shredded or sliced, and the operator takes bunches of this celery X, and places the same in the holding box 13 in an upright position. These stalks of celery X are fed laterally to the splitting knives 20 and slicing blade 22 by a packer 30, in the a form of a segmental plate, in the celery holding box 13. This packer 30 is rigidly secured to the right-hand end of a horizontal bar 31, theleft-hand end of which is pivoted to a forwardly projecting hand lever 32 the Said packer 30 is adapted to press the stalks of celery through the opening 26 and against the revoluble member 14.

During the rotation of the revoluble member 14, thestalks of celery held thereagainst are longitudinally split by the splitting knives 2O to-form shreds which are cut from said celery stalks by the slicing blade 22. I

The sp i t g knives 20 are rotated by trie tion as they come in contact with the stalks of celery. The circumferentially diverging cutting edge 23 of the slicing blade 22 draws the celery stalks toward the center of said cutting edge and at the same time cuts the same with a drawing action. The shredded. portions of the celery as they are cut from the stalks pass between the slicing blade 22 and revoluble member 14, through the discharge passageway 25 and into the housing 26 where they are precipitated through the discharge spout 27 and into a receptacle, not

shown, placed thereunder to receive the same.

The right-hand edge of the bottom of the celery holding box 13 affords a sort of a shearing edge which co-operates with the slicing blade 22 in slicing the celery stalks. This edge of the celery holding box 13 is provided with a multiplicity of notches to afford a comb 34 which prevents the cut celery or the fibres reinoved therefrom from following the splitting knives 20. It will be noted that the packer is inclined away from the revoluble member 14 so as to press the lower end portions of the stalks of celery through the open end of the holding box 13 and against the revoluble member 14.

To prevent the stalks of celery in the holding box 13 from following the packer 30 as the same is retracted to permit a new bunch of celery tobe placed in said box, I provide a pair of vertically spaced horizontal cut-off blades 35. These cut-off blades 35 are independently pivoted to a vertical shaft 36 on the back of the holding box 13 and work through slots 3'? in the back thereof. These cut-off blades 35 are independently and yieldingly held by springs 38. The packer 30 is notched at 39 to afford clearance for the cut-off blades 35, and each cut-off blade is provided at its free front corner with a short retaining finger 40 which assists in holding the celery stalks from following the packer during its retracting movement. As a bunch of celery is pressed to the right by the packer 30, the cut-off blades 35 will yield and permit the same to pass thereby.

In 1, the machine is set to shred celery for chow mein and similar dishes. To slice celery for chop suey and the like. the top of the celery holding box 13 is closed by means of a slide 41 mounted on the front oblique wall ofthe hopper 11 and held. in position by a pair of headed studs 42, the bodies of whichextend through slots 43 in said slide and are secured in the oblique wall. This slide 41 is provided with a tin ger piece 44 by which it may, be operated.

The revoluble member 14 is removed from the shaft 15 and a disc-like revoluble member 45 substituted therefon- To the inner face of this revoluble member 45 is secured a pair of diametrically opposite slicing blades 46 identical withithe slicing lade and laterally spaced from the revoluble member 45 by a yoke-like spacing member 47, like the spacing member 24. Back of each slicing blade 46 is a discharge passageway 48 through which the cut pieces of celery are discharged into the housing 26. During this slicing of the celery stalks, the same are laid flat on the slide 41 with their ends extending through an opening 49, in the fixed member of the housing 26 circumferentially rearward of the opening 26, and againstthe revoluble member 43 which acts as a stop and a gauge to determine the length of the pieces of celery sliced from the stalks therein.

It may be here stated that before celery stalks are shredded, the leaves are stripped therefrom and then the tops and branches sliced down to the main bodies of the stalks by the machine while the same is adjusted, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

lVhen shredding celery, the stalks are held upright on the bottom of the holding box 13 and are pressed laterally against the revoluble member 14 as a stop. The thickness of the shreds cut from the stalks of celery is determined by the axially spaced splitting knives 20 and the distance the slicing blade 22 is laterally spaced from the revoluble member 14. The length of these shreds is determined by the distance from the bottom of the holding box 13 on which the celery is supported to a point where the slicing blade 22 engages the stalks as they are pressed through the passageway in said box and against the revoluble member 14.

During the slicing of celery, the same is held parallel to the axis of the revoluble member 14. and their ends engage said revoluble member as a stop and also as a gauge to determine the length of the pieces of celery cut from the stalks thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A celery shredder including a revoluble member. a slicing blade and splitting knives carried by the revoluble member. said revoluble member having an escape passageway under the slicing blade, and a box adapted to hold celery stalks parallel to the direction of rotation of the revoluble member and having a. passageway through which portions )f said stalks may be pressed laterally and fed to said blade and knives.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in further combination with apacker in the holding box.

3. A celery shredder including a revoluble member. a slicing blade and splitting knives carried by the revoluble member, said revoluble member having an escape passageway under'tlie slicing blade, and a boxerranged to hold celery stalks parallel to the direction of rotation of the revoluble mem e d bo -ha in a p ss g ay r ugh which the lower end portions of said stalks may be pressed laterally against the revoluble member to feed the same to said blade and knives.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the upper end portions of said stalks are held laterally offset from their loWer end portions, whereby the lower end portions of said stalks will be shredded by said knives and then out by said blade to sever the shreds from said stalks.

5. A celery shredder including a revoluble member, a slicing blade and splitting knives carried by the revoluble member, said revoluble member having an escape passageway under the sllclng knives, a celery holding box through Which celery may be fed tov said blade and knives, a packer in the holding box, and a yieldingly held cut-off blade in the packing box. a

6. The structure defined in claim 5 in further combination with a stop finger on the cut-ofi blade.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY AURTHUR SCHUELTER. 

